Annual Report 2008

Together our goals are greater and the obstacles smaller.

Brand South Africa has played a pivotal role in the promotion and marketing of South Africa since its inception. We are operating in a very competitive environment. Many other comparable countries, such as Ireland, Korea, Brazil and Malaysia, are also involved in aggressive marketing programmes. We had to find a unique voice for South Africa in this cluttered space.

One of our achievements in the past year was to enable greater collaboration between all the roleplayers responsible for marketing South Africa, such as South African Tourism and the departments of Trade and Industry (the dti) and Foreign Affairs. We are increasingly speaking with one voice and acting with common purpose.

Our experience is that the private sector and civil society organisations are also buying into our approach.

An effort to “brand” South Africa does not mean glossing over the troubling issues to promote only the good, but striking a balance with respect to the perceptions that are created around the brand.

The work put in by the Brand South Africa has paid off handsomely in recent years, as brand South Africa is currently valued at over half-a-trillion rand (R516,6-billion). This is up significantly from the first brand equity study that valued brand South Africa at R379,5-billion.

This valuable imprint on popular consciousness, which is what an established brand represents, coincides with a move by Brand South Africa to extend the South African brand formula from the realms of the United Kingdom and the United States to the emerging economic giant, India.

This move underpins government initiatives in promoting South Africa abroad in those business sectors that it feels will represent significant opportunities for future growth.

VISION AND MANDATE
Our role explained

- To establish an integrated approach within government and the private sector towards Brand South Africa.

- To articulate a brand for South Africa, which positions the country to attract tourism, trade and investment as well as realise its international relations objectives.

- To build national support for Brand South Africa.

CONTENTS:

1. Introduction
2. International Marketing Council Team
3. Board Members
4. Chairman's Report
5. CEO'S Report
6. Domestic Mobilisation
7. International Mobilisation
8. Stakeholder & Public Relations
9. Communication Resource Centre
10. United Kingdom Country Report
11. United States Country Report
12. India Country Report
13. National Web Portal

Annual Financial Statements :

1. Board Trustees
2. Human Resources Statistics
3. Audit Committee
4. Auditor General to Parliament
5. Statements
6. Notes to the Financial Statements
7. Performance Review